Times and Sunday Times to merge online teams

The Times and The Sunday Times newspapers are to merge their
online production teams, raising expectations that the two publications
could pool their editorial teams in a single, seven-day news operation.

The Times and The Sunday Times newspapers are to merge their online production teams, raising expectations that the two publications could pool their editorial teams in a single, seven-day news operation.Photo: AFP/Getty Images

About 10 staff have been made redundant and asked to re-apply for new posts as part of a “digital development and strategy” unit working across both titles.

Earlier this week, Tom Mockridge, the outgoing chief executive of the newspapers’ publisher, News International, told staff that the two papers were likely to co-operate more closely in the future, although he added any move would have to comply with undertakings Rupert Murdoch gave when he purchased the papers to preserve their separate identities.

Such a move would make it harder for News International to sell the newspapers separately in the future, but it would also help to increase margins, making them more attractive to investors and any potential buyers.

However some sources fear that The Sunday Times, which in much better financial shape than its daily sister newspaper, would suffer as a result of the changes. “It is total insanity to sacrifice the successful Sunday operation on the altar of the daily,” a source said.